Marketing is not a game of straightforward rules, regardless of how much you can streamline it and use data to inform your approach. Sometimes, you need to engage in a little creativity to express the brand in a way that’s impactful and sometimes it doesn’t go well. Most errors can be resolved relatively quickly. But there are some that can be critically damaging to your brand if they’re given the space to breathe. Here are a few marketing mistakes you need to get on top of pronto.
Being too personal
Social media and short-form communications online is making it much easier for your team to communicate on a personal level with your customers. However, it’s also making it easier for them to get too personal. For instance, they might put out messages that don’t fit the image you want your brand to have or get into an online war with another business or even a customer. Ensure that you have strict social guidelines in place that allow them to express themselves within reason. Have them schedule their posts with tools like Hootsuite.com instead of posting them live so that someone else has a chance to look over them and offer a second opinion. You can stop the controversy before it gets out without having to actually stand over your social media manager’s shoulder as they post.
Getting the branding wrong
You have likely invested plenty of time, thought, and even some money into constructing a brand image. There are few things more annoying or embarrassing when someone gets it completely wrong. Using old logos, incorrect visual elements, and outdated signatures on things like emails and written content impacts the professional look of your brand. In many industries, attention to detail is key. You can, however, ensure that the correct resources are always the most accessible with a content management system. See more at Templafy.com for ways to ensure that consistency is ever a part of your brand. Make sure you communicate the core ideals and values of your brand to anyone you let write any content for you, as well.
Not investing in quality
Simply put, it doesn’t matter if you’re a small business. You need to invest in quality in all your marketing. One great online ad is better than five shoddy ads that look unfinished or illegible. Don’t be afraid to scrap ads that you’ve worked on that simply don’t work. Figure out how much budget you have to market, in advance, and decide where you can invest that would offer more quality. For instance, it’s a lot cheaper to invest in high-quality written content than it is to invest in a video of the same level. Know what you can do well and stick to it for now. Expand only when you can afford to.
If you can prevent the mistakes mentioned above, then your marketing journey is going to be much smoother. Of course, you can’t prevent every single error, so your business must be flexible to a certain amount of failure. If you can own up to your mistakes and implement the fixes quickly, it’s much easier for the market to be forgiving.
